The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles has opened an engaging exhibit, “Noah’s Ark at the Skirball.” Inspired by the ancient flood story, which has parallels in hundreds of cultures around the world, this indoor and outdoor attraction offers a multi-sensory, interactive experience. It invites visitors to board a gigantic wooden ark and to play, climb, build, discover, nurture, problem-solve, and collaborate alongside handcrafted, one-of-a-kind animals. These range from life-sized elephants and giraffes to snow leopards, flamingos, and iguanas — 186 species in all.

Five years in the making and occupying an 8,000-square-foot gallery, Noah’s Ark at the Skirball will remain on view permanently. Affirming that people must work together for a brighter future, Noah’s Ark is integral to the Skirball Cultural Center’s educational mission to explore Jewish heritage, with the goal of making connections within and among families, generations, and cultures.

The galleries are divided into three distinct and lively zones embodying the central themes of the Noah’s Ark story: storms (meeting challenges); arks (finding shelter and community); and rainbows (creating a more hopeful world). The Noah’s Ark galleries were designed by Seattle-based Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects (OSKA), in consultation with the Skirball’s original architect, Moshe Safdie (the Skirball opened in 1996). They feature interactive exhibits and experiences conceived by an in-house Skirball team, with Marni Gittleman as exhibit developer. The lofty ark spaces are populated with hundreds of fanciful animal puppets and figures, many of them kinetic. These have been created by Brooklyn-based designer/puppeteer Chris M. Green and by OSKA principal Alan Maskin, in conjunction with the fabrication house, Lexington.

Noah’s Ark at the Skirball is conceived as a journey, taking visitors on an ark voyage from a stormy world to dry land. Visitors are welcomed into a pre-flood zone, offering hands-on opportunities to make thunder, rain, and wind using low-tech, mechanical sound devices and invented instruments. Upon entering the galleries, visitors mingle with pairs of life-size animal puppets from the five continents, all crafted from recycled materials — or, in many cases, everyday objects such as bottle caps, bicycle parts, baseball mitts, croquet balls, mop heads, and rear-view mirrors. Visitors will help construct a floor-to-ceiling ark, load animals two-by-two, and climb aboard. They will help the animals settle in, unpack shipping crates, climb rafters, feed the animals, clean up the living quarters, and work together to keep everyone on board safely.

For more information about Noah’s Ark at the Skirball, visit the Center’s website.

Click to enlarge the photos above.